An Oregon Senate panel is considering a measure Thursday that would ban the sale of plastic containers that appear to be recyclable but really aren’t.
You’ve probably seen the so-called “chasing arrows” symbol on things like ketchup bottles or milk jugs. It used to mean you could put the item in your curbside recycling bin. But with China limiting the amount and type of plastic waste it imports, many of those formerly recyclable items are now just trash.
Some plastics can still be put in the blue bin, but waste haulers say far too many non-recyclable items are included, and the cost of sorting them out makes recycling even less viable, financially-speaking.
The proposed bill would ban manufacturers from selling plastic containers with that recycling symbol on it unless the container is on a pre-approved state list of things that can, in fact, be recycled.
